Suspect Zero
by TheDeep
Summary: A strange serial killer is lose on the streets and the team is struggling to come up with leads on his true identity. As they work to find this strange suspect, Mac and Stella will involuntarily come closer to the suspect than they'd like to. Can they survive Suspect Zero's strange killing methods or will the team lose one of their own in this fight for survival?
1. Chapter 1: Blood Markers

**Well, I promised a new story based on an idea from a movie I watched this past weekend, so here it is! My mind finally wouldn't let me keep this one in there and it needed down!**

**~ Chapter One: Blood Markers ~**

Mac stretched, hearing a crack from his back before he let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, eyeing the news displayed on the screen in his office.

_NYPD Names Mysterious Suspect "Suspect Zero"_

He shook his head. Who gave a damn about that? Mac wanted to know what his real identity was.

"_NYPD reports that they have no new leads on the true identity of Suspect Zero and reports are saying that the current body count of the suspect has reached four victims in just this past week."_

Mac turned it off, closing his eyes and raking a hand down his face. He didn't need to be listening to that. What he needed was a solid lead on this damn case.

He finally opened his eyes to look back at the case file open on his desk. His gaze locked on the calling card of Suspect Zero, carved in to the victim's wrist.

Why Suspect Zero? Well… his calling card was a 'zero' carved in to his victim's wrists. Their right wrist, to be specific. It was always their right wrist.

The phone on his desk rang and he grabbed it, not taking his eyes off the case file.

"_Taylor,"_ he answered, stifling a yawn.

"_He's struck again, Mac. We've got another body here at a warehouse a ways out of the city and he left his calling card. It's Suspect Zero."_

It was Don and he sounded no happier than Mac. Mac sighed and bit back a groan. _"Give me the address and I'll be there in about an hour, Don."_

**ooOOoo**

"Good to see you could make it, Mac," Stella greeted him as he stepped out of the Avalanche.

"I'm really getting tired of this guy," Mac muttered as he grabbed his kit from the backseat of the truck. "Sinclair will skin my ass to make me a bearskin rug when hears about this and the fact that we have no leads," he added.

Stella sighed, shooting him a sympathetic glance as they both turned and headed for the door to the large warehouse. "The day he does that is the day I'll break his arm," she grumbled.

Mac smiled slightly. "Yeah, well it'll be too bad that I won't be around to see it," he joked back.

Stella shot another one of her looks at him before they ducked under the police tape and joined Don by the body.

"You're certain it's Suspect Zero?" Mac asked as he set his kit down before him and Stella slid on a pair of gloves.

Don nodded to the victim's right wrist. "Take a look for yourselves," he said.

Mac kneeled down at the victim's side and carefully took ahold of her hand to look at her wrist. Sure enough, he was met with a blood red zero. Mac sighed and looked up at Stella, who was waiting for his verdict, and nodded.

Stella shook her head. "We really need to catch this guy."

"Sooner rather than later," Mac agreed as he stood. "Anyone else from the team here for processing?" he asked, looking back at Don.

The Homicide Detective shook his head. "No, they're all stretched from here to Timbuktu on other cases," he said.

Mac sighed and nodded. "Alright, Stella and I'll handle this. Get back to the precinct and keep checking in with them. This case takes top priority, got it? I want this guy found."

Don nodded. "You got it, Mac. I'll let them all know and give Sid a call as well to let him know he should be expecting," he said before he turned and headed out for his car, already pulling his phone out.

Mac nodded and looked back to Stella. "Did you bring your kit?"

"Of course. I'll grab it from my car and we'll start at the body and work our way out."

"Deal," Mac said with a nod as he kneeled down at the victim's side and opened his kit. He had a feeling today was going to be a hell of a long day.

**ooOOoo**

He watched from afar, blending in so none of them spotted him. His eyes were trained on the two detectives that had showed up the latest to the scene.

Research them. That step was already done. Now it was just waiting for the right moment. He would've liked to do more surveillance beforehand, but it was looking like he'd have an opportunity to grab them right from this warehouse. He'd take that opportunity. It wasn't often that he got such open opportunities, especially with cops.

There was one other detective he recognized from his research. He wasn't a CSI like his two targets. A Homicide Detective… Don Flack.

He smiled wickedly. "You see your friends safe now, but let's see if that's the case in a few days," he murmured, caressing the blade of his cleaned and sharpened knife between his thumb and index finger.

They should not have started looking for him. But now they were… and it was time to teach them a lesson on who was the real leader around here anyways.

His gaze traveled away from the Homicide Detective and back to the CSIs. One of them was out at her car again, but the other remained inside the warehouse. Taylor… Mac Taylor. Head of the Crime Lab. And Bonasera, his second in command.

Yes… those two would do perfectly. Besides, he'd seen their interactions where their friends had missed them.

But that was part of surveillance. Watch from afar and get to know your targets without them knowing you were watching.

Basic Training. He'd mastered it years ago. But Master hadn't been too happy when he'd told him how he practiced his training even though he had reported with great accuracy.

Oh well. He'd passed with flying colors, and that was all that mattered to his other Masters. It was a real shame they couldn't see how he was using their training now. He smiled again, but this time it was sadly. He'd pull this off and it would be for them…

In their memory, he would not fail this mission. They had made him the way he was and given him insight on how to be untouchable. The least he could do was master this mission with the skills they had taught him.

And he crouched down, getting comfortable for the wait. If he couldn't get both of them at once, then that would be ok with him. He could take one and get the other later. All the more fun to see the panic.

Although it would be easier if he could just grab both of them. With the Homicide Detective taking his leave, it would be easy, or at least easier. Easy enough for him. That was all that mattered.


	2. Chapter 2: Bloodshed

**Now we'll jump a bit ahead of the timeline… and you'll get to see just how Suspect Zero operates. Best to strap in your seatbelts… I can't make any promises on how rocky this will get.**

**~ Chapter Two: Bloodshed ~**

The pain throbbed in his wrist as he felt the warmth from his own blood run down his arm, chained above his head as he laid on the table.

He hesitated to open his eyes even when he felt her gentle touch on his forehead.

When he did open his eyes, he instantly regretted it. His breath hitched in his throat as he realized he couldn't see anything. Not to mention a dull pain in his ribs stopped him.

"Stella? Stella?" he asked, blinking in an attempt to see something besides the blinding mass of light.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm alright," Stella soothed him, gently running a hand through his hair.

He squeezed his eyes shut again, gritting his teeth. What the _hell?_

"What… What happened?" he asked, allowing himself a moment for her touch to soothe him. Where the hell were they? Why on Earth was he tied down and why was Stella not helping him?

He heard her suck in a breath, sounding like she was ready to cry or already had.

Wait… had he done something? God, what the hell was going on?

"Mac… do you remember what happened?"

He was ready to charge in to saying 'no' when he heard a door unlock and open slowly with an ominous creek. He opened his eyes and tried to lift his head, feeling Stella freeze on the spot near him.

"Oh, how sweet."

His blood froze and he felt like he wanted to lose consciousness again. Where had he heard that dark, threatening tone before?

He laid his head back down again, defeated with his sight not cooperating with him. And something made him try to focus on the pattern of the bleeding on his wrist.

He nearly choked on air when he realized the bleeding formed a rough outline of a zero.

_Oh, God, no…_

Suspect Zero. Him and Stella were with Suspect Zero. God forbid… Please, God forbid…

He felt a hand tighten firmly around his wrist right over the throbbing cut and he gritted his teeth, gasping at the firmness of the strong grip that made the dull throb become a sharp pain that made him tense all over.

"What the hell do you want with me?" he demanded, struggling to pull lose from the firm grasp.

"Settle, Detective Taylor or I'll have to make her watch me killing you. And I promise it won't be a quick process," the voice warned and he felt the grip increase on his wrist.

He opened his eyes to struggle to find focus on his tormentor, but he still saw nothing. The light was blinding and he felt the blade of a knife brush lightly against his neck.

"Go to hell," he growled, "And you won't touch her, got it? That was our deal."

Deal? What the hell?

Oh… that was the deal… The deal he made to spare Stella's life and pay with his own. Stella had no idea…

"Mac!? What the hell are you talking about?"

He squeezed his eyes shut again and he felt the presence standing over him unlock one of the cuffs before twisting his wrist painfully. He let out a groan and strained to pull lose. The throbbing pain nagged him.

"Please, Stella!" he gasped through gritted teeth. "It was the only way I could keep you safe!"

He felt the grip on his wrist loosen and he let out a breath of relief as he was released from the other cuff.

It didn't last long as he was thrown roughly to the floor. He winced as he hit the hard floor hard and he blinked his eyes open again.

"Ten minutes," he heard the growled command.

"Mac!" she rushed over to him, a hand gently on his shoulder. "Oh my God, what the hell happened to you?"

He blinked a few times, realizing he could see dim shadows now that he wasn't under the harsh light.

"Suspect Zero," he said as Stella helped him sit up and got him to lean back against the wall.

She gently took his hand and turned his arm to take a look at his wrist. Her free hand clasped over her mouth at the mark of the serial killer that was still bleeding on his wrist.

He had to blink a few more times before she roughly came in to focus in front of him. "I'm so sorry, Stella…" he breathed, gritting his teeth again, "I couldn't let him hurt you and this was the only way I could convince him."

"Oh… Mac," Stella murmured, feeling her hands trembling as her grip loosened around Mac's hand.

"Hey, hey," he murmured, somewhat blindly reaching out his good hand to gently wipe a few tears from her face, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine… It's gonna be ok. The team will get him for this…"

Stella gripped his hand. "Mac, I won't let him kill you! No, you can't do this for me!" she said, shaking her head.

He looked down at the blood on his arm. "You'd do it for me, Stella," he breathed, closing his eyes as he felt some of his own tears start to form in his eyes. "You'd do it for me."

Stella looked at him, choking on words she never said and wanted to say.

"I can't… I just can't…" she started to say, struggling with the words as she closed her eyes and moved so she could bury her face in his shoulder.

"I know… I know…," he murmured, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head and hating the idea that it might be the last. "I couldn't let him hurt you… I just couldn't, Stella…"

He didn't want to believe any of this. He didn't want to believe that this suspect had successfully won over him…

First just at work when he was bothered by the many killings… then at home when he had the nightmares…

And now here he'd forced him to make a decision he'd prayed he'd never have to… especially when he'd gotten so close to Stella…

_Wherever you guys are… hurry… it's only a matter of time…_


	3. Chapter 3: Trajectory

**Alright… let's get back to logic now that I've got that out of my system for a little bit. XD Back to the warehouse and the crime scene, roughly a few days earlier…**

**~ Chapter Three: Trajectory ~**

Mac stood with a quiet sigh, eyes narrowed. Why had Suspect Zero left this girl here? Usually he dumped his victim's bodies in Manhattan…

But everything was significant with Suspect Zero. There had to be a reason. He grabbed the small flashlight out of his kit and turned it on, hearing the door to first Don's car and then Stella's closing outside as he followed the ray of the flashlight, trying to find out the significance of this location.

A disused Military warehouse miles outside of the city… Military background? Had Suspect Zero been here before?

Outside, he heard the tires of Don's car crunch the gravel as the Homicide Detective left and he didn't hear footsteps.

She must've forgot something in her car…

He stepped carefully around the body, watching where he put his feet down. They hadn't cleared any part of this scene in any way and the last thing he needed was to contaminate evidence on this case.

That's when the back exit and entrance of the warehouse caught his eye. He still hadn't heard Stella coming back, which he found odd… but it was a long case. He honestly couldn't be picky.

Plus, it was Stella. He smiled softly at the thought. Oh, what the team didn't know wouldn't hurt them…

He turned his focus back to his task, putting his flashlight in the pocket of his jacket for the moment as he stepped to the door, looking around.

Something was off… Something was very off… This place was supposed to be cleared and no one had come through the back of the warehouse so why was the door ajar like this?

He only managed a frown before he felt a hand firmly placed over his mouth. His eyes went wide and his hands came up as he tried to get a grasp on the arm of the person behind him.

_Stella! Where the hell is she?_

He needed to let her know about this, but he couldn't twist himself free.

"Shh, settle Detective Taylor. This won't be any easier unless you cooperate." The voice was a harsh whisper and he felt hot breath against the side of his face.

For a moment, it stopped him in his tracks. Who the hell was this person? His mind raced as he struggled to find a way out of this and find a way to let Stella know.

His gun! His gun was in his holster! It was a risk, but he let his grip on the person's arm loosen and he reached for his holster. He had his gun in his hand by the time he felt the person realize what was going on and he pulled the trigger before the gun was knocked from his hand.

The next thing he remembered was briefly struggling with whoever the hell had grabbed him before a needle pricked at his neck and he felt the feeling of calm race over him even though he tried to fight it.

_Where the hell is Stella? …_

**ooOOoo**

Stella stretched by her car, remembering she'd left her phone on the seat when she'd grabbed her kit.

She had just put her phone safely away in her pocket and prepared to shut the door of her car again when she heard the familiar bark of Mac's .40 caliber service weapon from the warehouse.

She quickly yanked her gun from her holster and stepped quickly around her car and ran towards the warehouse.

She stepped in quietly, trying to scan the entire warehouse. "Mac?" she called, "Mac?"

No answer.

Then she heard tires rip at the gravel outside and her eyes went wide in realization. She raced outside in time to see the rear of a Silverado take off in the opposite direction from where her and Mac had come from.

She pulled her phone out, trying to focus on the license plate before the truck got too far out of her sight.

"_Yeah, Don, it's Stella! I'm at the warehouse and I just watched a dark red Silverado tear out of here! I thought you said this place was cleared?"_ she demanded as she rushed her kit in to her car and jumped in, starting it and pulling out after the Silverado.

"_What? A Silverado?"_ Don's disbelief was clearly in his voice, _"My boys didn't report any vehicles that didn't belong there!"_

"_Well, I've got news for them, then! Mac was just kidnapped from the scene! That Silverado ripped out of here right after I checked in the warehouse when I heard Mac fire a shot!"_ Stella growled as she slammed the breaks. The road split in two in front of her and she didn't have a visual on the Silverado any more.

"_Stella… Stella, you ok?"_ Don asked when she didn't say anything for a few moments.

Stella struggled to look as far down each road as she could, feeling her heart sink when she realized she'd lost him…

"_I… I lost them, Don! He's gone!"_

"_Alright, relax, relax! I'm turning around right now! Meet me back at the warehouse and we'll figure out what happened to him together, alright?"_

Stella choked on her response for a moment before she sucked in a breath in an attempt to get rid of the dizzy feeling she was getting when she thought about who could've taken Mac and what could happen…

_Oh, God, he tried to warn me… He tried to warn me with that shot…_

"_Yeah,"_ she finally forced the word out of her mouth. _"I'll meet you there…"_

She heard Don hang up and she stared down the roads ahead of her, fighting back tears. She couldn't lose him…

"Just hang on, Mac," she breathed, looking with worried eyes down the roads one last time, "Just hang on…"

**ooOOoo**

"Walk me through it," Don said, trying to keep Stella calm.

"I had to grab my phone… I forgot I left it on the seat when I grabbed my kit," Stella said, letting out a shaky sigh. "That's when I heard Mac's gun go off."

Don nodded. "Alright… We need to find that bullet so we can find where he shot from."

Stella nodded and they both went in to the warehouse. It took them a while to find the bullet in the large warehouse, but they pulled it off.

"Here it is!" Stella called Don over as she hovered the beam of her flashlight over the bullet.

Don joined her and took a look. "That matches the rounds we use," Stella said, pulling out her service weapon and popping the round in her chamber out in to the palm of her hand. She looked back up at Don, ".40 caliber standard-issue."

Don nodded. "Great, that'll give us trajectory, won't it?"

Stella nodded, turning around and turning the beam of her flashlight in the direction she saw in her mind's eye the bullet coming from.

Right now, she didn't know everything that happened, but she could at least picture Mac pulling the trigger from the back of the warehouse. Nothing had altered the path of this bullet, seeing as the warehouse was rather empty and actually kind of on the smaller side of the ballpark, giving her the rare find of a perfect location.

"C'mon. He shot from the back of the warehouse," she said as she put her flashlight back in her pocket, quickly reloaded her gun and put it back in her holster, and started for the back of the warehouse.

They stepped carefully, still aware that it was an active crime scene… in two ways now that Mac was missing.

Stella checked her mental notes and looked back in the line of fire she had imagined for the shot. She took a quick look around before she pulled her gun out, Don taking a quick step back out of her way.

She was silent for a moment as she tried to picture it happening again…

He must've known that she didn't know and wouldn't have found out… Why else would he have risked the shot?

"He shot from here, probably a one-handed shot," she murmured.

Don looked back at her. "How can you tell?"

Stella shrugged. "I know Mac, Don. If someone managed to grab him, they caught him by surprise and they probably stood behind him. Mac would've only needed one hand to get to his gun and that someone behind him probably had a hand over his mouth. Not to mention Mac has a decently steady hand. He's as good a shot as any of us, although I highly doubt he was aiming at anything in particular," she said.

Don nodded. Ok, that made sense… General logic, right?

"So… why was Mac over here in the first place? I thought you guys were starting with the vic?" he asked.

Stella shrugged and looked around. The rear door of the warehouse was closed. "I'm not sure… but there had to be something fishy back here to bring him this far off his own orders. He was thinking something was up…"

"And we both know how his mind operates… When he's thinking something, he follows through," Don said with a nod.

Stella nodded and chewed at her lip. "That's what we're trained to do… Follow through on leads and evidence. Something brought him back here… We just have to find out what."


	4. Chapter 4: Deal With The Devil

**Ok… Let's see what happens now… Ohhh boy, the possibilities are really endless… And I just realized I uploaded the wrong chapter for this... XD Now... I'm totally embarrassed...**

**~ Chapter Four: Deal With The Devil ~**

"Wake up!"

Mac jolted back to reality with a start, looking around and wondering what the hell happened to him. He felt a hand firmly on his shoulder and his gaze shifted to a hooded figure.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Detective Taylor," the hooded figure growled, tightening some sort of strap around Mac's arm.

"Who the hell are you?" Mac growled, struggling to pull his other arm free before the same happened to it.

"You'll find out with time. And so will your fellow detective."

Mac stopped fighting for a moment and fixed a glare on the figure. "Stella? You don't touch her, got it?" he growled, eyes narrowed.

"What are you willing to do to save her life?" the hooded figure paused suddenly and the voice was intense.

Mac blinked and struggled to interpret the question. "You won't kill her," he stated, still trying to understand what he was being asked.

"Would you trade her life for yours?"

"In a damn heartbeat," Mac growled as the figure resumed tying his other arm down.

"Then let's make it a deal by blood."

Mac's eyes went wide as he saw the figure pull out a knife and go for his right wrist. "Wait!"

The figure paused. "You know who I am, Detective Taylor, and I know who you are."

"Suspect Zero," Mac said, glaring at the figure. "What the hell do you want with me? Why me and Stella? Why all those innocent people?" he demanded.

"Training. An old assignment given to me years ago by the Masters," the figure said, laying down the knife on the table. "You probably don't want to see this."

By now Mac knew with certainty that this figure was a male and the calmness of his last statement chilled him to the bone. And what the hell was he talking about with 'Masters'? "What the hell are you going to do to me?"

"You should be glad your partner doesn't have to go through this because of our deal, Detective Taylor," the figure growled at him. The tone indicated to Mac that he would do better by shutting up.

His mind reeling with questions, he struggled still when the figure grabbed something from the table in place of the knife. He put the strange stuff on Mac's eyes and he gritted his teeth against the sting. "What the hell are you doing? What's your point?" he struggled to get the questions answered.

If he was going to die, he at least wanted answers. This case had been driving him nuts and he needed to know that this figure would hold the deal, whatever it was, that he'd just made.

He blinked his eyes open to watch the figure go about grabbing the knife, but his vision was blurred and it was less torturous to just close his eyes, especially when the figure turned on a bright light.

Mac gritted his teeth as his eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness with no avail. Now he could feel the knife blade against his wrist and he resorted to closing his eyes for two reasons…

One, it was less painful on his agitated eyes, and two, he knew what was coming. It still didn't help him keep a gasp of pain in check when he felt the blade dig deep in to his skin.

"Don't worry much, Detective Taylor, it's not far enough to slice the artery," the figure told him.

Mac gritted his teeth, knowing fully well what was going on now.

_What the hell happened to me anyways?_ He wondered, trying to distract his mind from the pain of the marking being carved carefully and painfully slow in to his wrist.

The last thing he remembered was being at the warehouse with Stella. God, where was Stella? Did he already have Stella?

One last slice to make a dash through the circle and make it without a doubt a zero made Mac let out a cry of pain that he didn't want to.

"Relax, Detective, that's all for now," the figure murmured as Mac set his jaw against the pain. Blood from the mark slowly started to adventure down his arm and he was almost glad he hadn't been able to see the figure carving the trademark 'zero' in to his wrist.

But the unsettling part was that the trademark was a mark of death… and for the first time, Mac understood the deal he'd made almost unknowingly.

_Oh hell… What have I gotten myself in to _this_ time?_

**ooOOoo**

"You're certain you didn't get any part of that Silverado's plate?" Don asked as him and Stella stood by Stella's car, waiting on the rest of the team to show up.

They'd definitely been stretched thin, but it was Mac's own orders that the Suspect Zero case get top priority. None of them had ever expected that to mean they'd have to look in to his disappearance from one of the scenes of the suspect.

"Nothing… My mind was racing and… I was just too worried about Mac," Stella murmured, pulling her jacket tighter around herself and hugging her arms a little closer to her body. She just couldn't believe this was happening…

What were the odds that Mac was already dead at the hands of one of the people they'd put away on their many cases… or worse, that he was with Suspect Zero?

She shivered at the thought and Don noticed, his face grim as he wondered the same thing. "We'll find him," the Homicide Detective said with a determined nod.

"We don't have a choice. I'm not losing him like this," Stella said.

Danny and Lindsay were the first two to arrive at the scene. They raced over, both looking worried.

"What is this I hear about Mac getting kidnapped?" Lindsay asked, racing over to Stella's side and laying a hand on her friend's arm.

"I didn't know until he fired a shot off in the warehouse… and then I saw a red Silverado take off that way," Stella said with a nod in the direction opposite of that which Danny and Lindsay had come from the city.

Danny nodded. "Any clues as to who did it?" he asked calmly although his eyes gave away his anxiety over the matter.

Don shook his head. "No, not yet, but we managed to get the trajectory of Mac's shot to see where he shot his gun from."

"He was trying to warn me," Stella said with a sigh, her arms falling back to her sides.

Danny and Lindsay exchanged a concerned glance. "Let's see if there's anything left behind from that truck. We might be able to see where it sat if it was here long enough. The weight of it might've been enough to make an impression in the gravel around here," Danny suggested.

Don shrugged. "Sounds like a long shot."

"Mac took a long shot to let me know something was wrong, literally and figuratively," Stella interjected, "And we don't have much else to go on. I say we give it a try. It can't hurt."

Lindsay nodded and laid her hand back on Stella's shoulder to calm her. "Alright, that's what we'll do. I say we wait until the rest of the team shows up and then we can split up in to pairs or something so we can better cover this area. There has to be something that'll tell us who did this to him."


	5. Chapter 5: History

**Oh, come on, guys! Have faith! I'm not **_**that evil**_**… Besides, I'd probably kill myself if I ever came to the conclusion that I'd let one of my made up characters kill Mac… Wait… did I just give too much away? Hmmm… I better shut up now.**

**~ Chapter Five: History ~**

Mac jolted awake with a start. He looked around, realizing he must've nodded off. How he'd managed it was beyond him and he blinked a few times.

His vision was still a little rough, but it was definitely better. He went to rub at the back of his neck and was a bit startled when he realized he could.

Another look around proved he wasn't tied down. He frowned. Exactly what kind of mind game was this? He shook his head and turned his attention to the intricate carving on his wrist. It was a few moments before his eyes could finally adjust enough to bring the blood red lines in to focus enough that he could examine it.

The injury was cleaned although it was obviously not finished fully with bleeding. He carefully wiped away a stray smear of his blood and studied over the mark longer. What on Earth was Suspect Zero's past?

He remembered mention about a mission… a mission assigned by "Masters." He frowned, ignoring his wrist as he rested his arm at his side again. There had to be something he was missing…

This had to connect back to those Masters… every single kill had to connect back to the past.

He chewed at his lip. If he could just figure out the connections, he might be able to pull off some kind of escape and get this killer to stop.

**ooOOoo**

"Don, Danny!" Stella yelled as Lindsay stood near her. They thought they had something.

The Homicide Detective and CSI came running. "What'd you find?"

"For one, this tarp," Lindsay said, nodding to a large tarp stashed in the thicket near the storage building they stood next to. "It's large enough to cover a Silverado like Stella saw."

Stella nodded. "Plus there's impressions here, possibly from a truck like a Silverado. Your boys didn't see the truck back here under that tarp and that's why they didn't report it," she said to Don.

Don nodded, still looking not so pleased with the fact that they'd missed a truck on the scene. "We need to find out where the hell that truck was from, why it was here, who owns it, and where Mac was taken," he pointed out with a sigh.

Stella nodded. "I know, I know," she murmured, closing her eyes for a moment and trying to think. If they only had even a partial plate number…

"I got it!" she said suddenly, looking at her friends with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Lindsay asked, laying a hand on Stella's arm.

"I remember two numbers from that license plate. It's not much, but it's a start. I remember 2A, and that's all I saw."

Don nodded and took that down in his notebook. "I say you guys finish processing here while I get back to the precinct and run this through the system. I'll call you with anything I find," he said.

Stella nodded. "Do that, and we'll keep you updated as well."

Don nodded. "Stay safe you guys, I don't need to lose any more of you around this place."

Danny nodded. "I'll keep my eyes on them," he said with a small smile.

Don managed a smile in return. "Good."

Stella and Lindsay exchanged a glance like the two men had just insulted them, but remained quiet.

After a few more brief words, Don split back to the precinct and the three CSIs turned their attention back to their crime scene.

There had to be something they were missing… And that was the key to telling them were Mac had been taken.

**ooOOoo**

"Detective Taylor."

The greeting was curt and left very little room for any kind of interruption. Mac looked up and staid where he was. He had a feeling this wasn't going to a conversation he liked.

The figure was still cloaked in his hood as he took a seat casually across the room from Mac.

His eyes still agitated from whatever the hell the suspect had put in them, Mac struggled to reel in to focus the image of the room around him.

The suspect seemed to study him for a moment, and Mac started to wonder what was up with it all before the suspect finally spoke,

"I heard you're a former Marine, Detective."

Mac studied his captor for a moment, wondering where this was going before he nodded. "I reckon you would know that. You know enough other things about me. Marines. Like my father."

The hooded figure nodded, not looking like this was news to him.

Mac's eyes narrowed, bringing the image of the suspect a bit out of focus to him. Regardless, he was still wondering what hell he'd just invited to sit down beside him.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you about the rest of my career," he finally said, leaning his head back against the wall and opening his eyes again to try and refocus on the suspect.

The man nodded. "You're an educated man, Detective Taylor. Smarter than some of those criminals credit you to be."

"I'm not surprised," Mac said, his mind racing as he played along. That's what he'd done so far… and he was still alive. Something was working, obviously. Whether it was luck or God's great intervention, Mac couldn't be certain. He was now aware of the chain still around his neck with that cross at the bottom. He wore it so often he almost forgot about it most of the time, hidden under a Kevlar and his shirt like it usually was. Not that he had a Kevlar… Honestly, he didn't think it'd do him much good with this suspect. Not much good at all.

The man nodded, leaning back in his chair comfortably. "Over ten years on the Crime Scene Unit, I'm sure you'd know."

_Oh hell, I'm in trouble._ Exactly where did this guy do his research? NYPD's secret files or something?

Ok… that was a bit of a stretch… on the secret file part. He'd seen others capable of getting hands on the security systems in the lab. He shouldn't be surprised that this suspect knew so much about him.

The suspect studied the detective for a moment, seemingly trying to make up his mind about something.

"My question is… how on Earth should I kill you?"


	6. Chapter 6: Deal?

**I know, you all have the right to be eager for me to finish, and the right to be a little unhappy because I'm such a procrastinator. XD Don't worry, I won't be mad… Lol**

**~ Chapter Six: Deal? ~**

Mac frowned. He didn't like that question. But it was a question that the suspect was obviously wanting an answer for. So, Mac shrugged. "I don't know. Isn't that your choice?"

"True… true," the suspect said, nodding and leaning forward so he could rest his elbows on his knees and fold his hands in front of himself. "But… I also have a few other plans for your coworkers, because I have a feeling if I just wanted to get caught, I could shoot you on the spot and dump you at their door. But that's not the reaction I'm looking for. I need them to take a lesson from this, and they won't do that if I just killed you, now would they?"

Mac examined the man for a moment, hating how he was being questioned. He didn't like how they were talking about this like it was a simple work day and they were old friends having coffee. "Probably not. They would know it was you and they'd work to find you before they started really questioning why you did it and what your point was," he said finally.

The man nodded. "Exactly. I need them to learn their lesson before they find me, if they ever find me at all. That's why I'm going to need the codes for your lab, Detective Taylor."

That brought Mac to full attention. "Hell, you do! What do you need the access codes for?"

"I made a deal that I wouldn't kill your friend, Detective. I never told you I wouldn't need her at some point."

Mac glared at him. Damn it, this guy was good at talking his way out of and in to things. "And what happens if I don't give you the codes?"

The man shrugged as if he was just asked what his favorite color was or some other simple question and pulled out the knife he'd used earlier. "Then we'll have to negotiate." He stood and looked over at Mac, almost like he was trying to decide if he should just leave it there as a verbal threat or make due on it physically.

Mac stood, fixing a wary gaze on the man. Four walls and one door. His chances weren't that great if he was honest. He didn't know how this guy would come at him.

He got his answer when the man suddenly was in front of him with the knife against his throat.

Mac had to remind himself of the odds again to keep himself from panicking, as if his mind gave him a fair choice. "Go on, do it. You kill me and you don't get the access codes," he pointed out.

The man grabbed his wrist with a strength Mac hadn't predicted and it made him wince. That wound was still relatively fresh and it hurt like hell when that strong grip got around it. "I can do worse than killing you, Detective Taylor. I suggest you keep that in mind when making your final decision."

**ooOOoo**

Stella sighed as she looked over the quiet lab. She had long since sent the rest of the team home. The only other people here were the lab techs, finishing up their routines for the day and letting whoever had night shift take over.

She shook her head and decided on the stairs. She needed time to think and the stairs would offer her the most time.

She still couldn't get the ideas out of her head from earlier at the warehouse. She had a gut-wrenching feeling that Mac had indeed been taken by Suspect Zero and she didn't like the thought one bit.

Because if that was true… she could kiss any possibility of Mac surviving the ordeal goodbye based on what they'd seen from the killer so far.

She shook her head and paused on the landing of the floor below that of the lab, leaning against the wall and squeezing her eyes shut. She couldn't think like that if she planned on getting him back alive and in one piece. Somewhere out there, he was relying on them to find out what had happened and thinking like that wasn't going to help his chances.

She took a deep breath and went down to the next floor before she realized she'd started crying. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and took the stairs a little quicker.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Fine," she said quickly, not taking the time to look at who she'd been addressed by.

She quickly found out that was a mistake as she felt a hand clamp firmly over her mouth.

_Jesus!_ She thought and she struggled to wrench herself free, trying to get ahold of the person's arm.

"Relax, Detective Bonasera. I'm sure you'll be relieved to know your partner made a deal to save your life."

_Partner? What the hell? Is this guy talking about Mac?_ The questions raced through her mind as he let go of her, but kept a gun in her back. She shot a glare at the figure over her shoulder, but couldn't see his face because of what he was wearing. "What the hell have you done to him?" she demanded as the figure indicated they should keep going down the stairs towards the parking garage.

"Nothing that'll kill him. Yet, that is," the figure told her as if that was information that would calm her.

"You leave him the hell alone, got it?" Stella growled. She swore she would've punched him in the face for it if it hadn't been for the gun in her back and the fact that he'd mentioned Mac. In an indirect kind of way…

"Funny… That's exactly what he said about you," the figure said with an impassive shrug.

Stella shot a look of slight alarm at the figure as they quickly hustled down the stairs. "What do you mean?"

The figure shrugged again. "I'm sure Detective Taylor can explain to you after you see him and get the chance to talk to him," he said. "It's not my place to tell you about the deal we made."

_Deal?_ Stella wondered as he led her to a dark van parked in the garage. _What the hell have you done, Mac? And what the hell did this guy do to you?_


	7. Chapter 7: Methods

**Alright, remember chapter two? Well, this is a revisit to those events and just goes in to a bit more detail to make this whole line clearer. You guys keep asking for what deal Mac made? Well, he tries to explain to Stella just that in this chapter!**

**~ Chapter Seven: Methods ~**

"What the hell did you do to him?" Stella snapped, glaring at the suspect as she stood over the unconscious form of Mac. The blood red mark on his wrist made her uneasy and she wanted answers. _Now._

The man shrugged. "This is the least of his problems. Give him a few minutes to come around. I had to make sure he didn't try anything after he gave me the access codes to your lab."

A snarl started to form on Stella's face, but she forced herself to keep her mouth shut as she watched the man slip out of the room, locking the door behind himself. She quickly scanned the room before she found a chair and pulled it up so she could sit.

She sighed softly as she turned her worried eyes back to Mac. At least he seemed ok. He was still breathing, and that was at least one thing that she liked. She carefully laid one hand gently against his forehead before winding her fingers loosely through his hair. She frowned slightly. She needed to give him another haircut before he started looking too unruly. She always liked it better when he let her cut it Marine style. She could joke with him about it then and the smile he gave her when she did always made her heart leap chasms seemingly effortlessly.

Still, she worried. Even when she heard him sigh and her eyes refocused back on his. He visibly flinched when he opened his eyes, squinting.

She looked over him one more time, noting how his eyes seemed unfocused with the harsh lighting in the room. Mysterious, really… She frowned.

"Stella? Stella?" he asked, closing his eyes tightly again and setting his jaw.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm alright," Stella soothed, running her hand through his hair again.

He visibly relaxed, allowing himself at least a small moment for the familiar touch to soothe him. "What… What happened?" he asked almost hesitantly.

Stella fumbled for an answer quickly, wondering how she would explain. She sucked in a quick breath and bit harshly at her lip, trying to fight tears. He tensed at this and she nearly flinched away from him, knowing she'd worried him.

"Mac… do you remember what happened?"

He was silent for a moment, looking like he was ready to answer her just as she heard the door open again with a loud creek.

She stood quickly and backed away, but it was clear she hadn't moved quite fast enough when the man flashed a wicked smile from under his hood and said softly, "Oh, how sweet."

She noticed Mac laid his head back against the table he was tied to and she clearly made out realization on his face even though he still had his eyes shut to the light. Something must've been given to him that agitated them. She knew him too well.

She backed off a little more when the man walked over, putting a rather strong looking grip on Mac's wrist over the strange cut she'd seen. She didn't want to antagonize this suspect into hurting her or Mac any more but that was contradictory to how tense Mac was when the man grabbed his wrist. It must've been rather fresh for it to still be bothering him like that.

Stella bit at her lip as she watched Mac and the strange man, hating that she didn't have a way to help him. "What the hell do you want with me?" The authority in his voice reminded her of what he used in interrogation and he was fighting to get his wrist free from the strong grip of whoever the hell was doing this to them.

It really made Stella want to be sick when the suspect looked calmly down at his hostage. "Settle, Detective Taylor, or I'll have to make her watch me killing you. And I promise it won't be a quick process." As he spoke, his grip on Mac's wrist seemed to increase, if that was even possible. It was clear Mac felt the same way as she noticed him setting his jaw again with gritted teeth.

Mac opened his eyes just enough that Stella caught ice blue slits and was taken aback by how out of focus his eyes still seemed to be. "Go to hell," he growled, making Stella's heart leap to her throat and pound a little faster, "And you won't touch her, got it? That was our deal."

There was that damned deal again. What the hell was going on? "Mac!? What the hell are you talking about?"

The man shot a glare at her that told her she would've done better for Mac if she would've just kept her mouth shut. He emphasized his point by undoing the cuff around Mac's right wrist and twisting it in what looked like a way that something shouldn't be twisted, especially a human's arm.

Mac struggled to bite back a groan, finding the act unsuccessful as he heard it slip past his lips. "Please, Stella!" he gasped, grinding his teeth together as tight as he could against the throbbing pain, "It was the only way I could keep you safe!"

Stella was about to jump in and tell the man to let him go when he did just that before he shoved Mac roughly to the floor with a growled command she didn't care to listen to.

"Mac!" She raced over to his side as he got a hand on the solid surface of the floor and pushed himself back on his hands and knees. "Oh my God, what the hell happened to you?"

He shook his head just slightly, blinking his eyes back in to focus before he allowed her to get him to sit back down, leaning his back against the wall. "Suspect Zero."

And a whole conversation followed that, eventually leaving her leaning in to him, his arm around her shoulders tightly. He never wanted to let her go again and he took in a shaky breath.

"Stella… I'm sorry," he murmured, closing his eyes tightly again.

Stella forced herself to hold back tears and looked up at him. "What exactly is that deal you two keep referring to?"

Mac let out that breath as a shaky sigh and looked at her with worried blue eyes that hid his overall concern. "Stella… he was going to kill both us. I couldn't let him do that."

Stella searched his gaze, hunting for that break in that mask she knew so well. "What did you do?" she asked, shaking her head slowly from side to side a bit. She almost didn't want to know the answer.

He turned his arm so they could both see the zero carved with care in to his wrist. Just deep enough to bleed and obviously agitated after the original carving of the mark, but not deep enough to come close to killing him.

"I made the deal that if I let him have his way with me, he wouldn't hurt you," he said quietly. He couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze and just studied over the mark on his wrist further, wondering exactly what plans Suspect Zero had in store for him.

"Oh, Mac…"

He sighed and let his arm rest at his side again, finally forcing himself to meet her gaze as steadily as he possibly could again. "I… I don't know what he has planned, but I know he would've done something similar with you if we hadn't made the deal. I just couldn't let him do this to you. Over my dead body, Stella… I just couldn't…"

They both fell silent and looked up as the door opened again, the man stepping in again. Mac didn't like the syringe in his hands. It sent red flags up all over his mind. He'd seen over a hundred ways to kill a person, so it seemed. It was starting to look like this would be another thing, and very well might be the last, that he could add to that running list.

The man smiled as he looked back over the detectives, and Mac kept his arm protectively around Stella's shoulders, his almost fully focused eyes fixed on the syringe the man held.

"Oh, no need to worry about your girl, Taylor. This is my fun for you. See, I've been working on this for a while and I think I'm finally ready to use it," the man said, sitting in the chair that Stella had previously put herself in so that he faced both detectives. "See… this… _thing_ here," he said, lightly tapping the side of the syringe as if it held a vaccine and he was the nurse to inject a young child, "gives your body three choices, or paths, really. It's a rather dangerous monster of a thing, and your chances of surviving your meeting with this might as well be less than a plane's chances of crashing due to turbulence. See, your body's decision includes these three options as follows: to accept the virus, as I call it, in which it will literally take control of your entire body and end ultimately in you lying in the morgue, to fight it, in which your body will fight to rid itself of this virus, which could ultimately work or more likely tire you out to the point where your body takes the easy road and gives in to the virus, or your body could actually never decide what to do, in which case the virus would take over and again, lead to certain death."

Mac and Stella stared silently back at the man, eyes focused mostly on the syringe. Mac's mind raced with facts and questions that seemed to loom in front of him like some daunting dark woods with no certain other side and light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

_Oh shit_, he thought, quickly licking at his suddenly dry lips and trying to take in the vast amount of possibilities he felt like he just had laid out in front of him even though he was struggling to keep balance on a thin beam over a raging river filled with dangerous animals that were howling and raving for his life.

This was in no way good for him, or any of them for that matter. He looked over at Stella, seeing his concern reflected as worry in her eyes. He read her face like the pages in a children's book.

_No, I can't lose you. There has to be something we can do…_

But he shook his head. _No_. He was not going to let her take this for him, nor would he have let anyone else do it. Even a total stranger…

They both looked back at the man, who was seemingly waiting for a final verdict on who would be taking on the daunting fight against what he held in his hands. Mac and the man locked eyes and the detective nodded, feeling a strange form of acceptance of this fate.

_As long as she's safe… As long as she's safe, I can fight this. She's the world to me, and this is the only thing that will ensure she can carry on in this crazy world we live in. I _can_ fight this._

Maybe… just maybe, he had a chance here. Wouldn't know until he tried, right?

And that was a sickening twist on the attempt at humor.


	8. Chapter 8: Just Another Battle

**It's Christmas time, so I'll keep that in mind when I write this, I promise. Can't make the holidays too gloomy! That would be horrible! XD Anyways, I was dying to write up another chapter, so here it is!**

**~ Chapter Eight: "Just Another Battle" ~**

As much as Stella wanted to fight him on the subject, that serious blue gaze froze her on the spot and she was so stunned by the information that she received that she could only watch as Mac stood, fiery determination burning in his eyes, and walked over to the strange man from earlier.

Mac simply stood there, listening to a few words that were too quiet for Stella to hear before the man gave him whatever the hell was in the syringe in a full, solid, single dose.

Nothing happens in seconds with these things, but she could tell that he was regretting it just as much as she was when the man left them alone again and he looked over at her.

She stood, feeling unsteady on her feet when she did, and ran over to him, running straight in to a tight hug from his arms.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. She buried her face in his shoulder and she swore she felt him shaking just slightly as he stood there, holding her tightly.

It was too much for her, and she couldn't fight the tears.

"Stella… I'm so sorry," he said. His voice was scarcely even a whisper and when she forced herself to look up at him when he loosened his protective hold, she felt for certain that she was choking on the emotions she could see reflected in his blue eyes.

Stella shook her head, her breathing shaky. "No… You can do this," she told him. She wasn't going to accept the possibility of that being a lie. She just couldn't handle it. She quickly wiped tears from her cheeks, "You can do this. You can fight this."

Mac looked her over, concerned and more doubtful than he ever remembered being in his life. But he had to do this. He had to do this for her. "Hey," he said, forcing his voice to stay level and strong as he gently cupped her chin in one of his hands and made her look up at him, "I'll be fine, ok? You don't need to worry about me. What matters is that you're safe."

Stella blinked away a few more tears and pulled gently away from his hand so she could lay her head against his shoulder again. "But I always worry about you," she murmured, closing her eyes tightly and trying to fight off the solid mass of fear that wanted to take her by the hand and guide her in to the darkest depths of the Earth possible.

Mac swallowed, biting at his lip and placing a soft kiss on the top of her head, simply putting an arm around her shoulders tightly and looking down at the floor, his eyes unfocused. This time it wasn't because of what Suspect Zero had given him.

"And I'll always worry about you."

**ooOOoo**

"Did you get ahold of Stella last night?" Hawkes asked as he met Lindsay and Danny as the pair stepped off the elevator.

Lindsay shook her head, eyes worried. "No. I couldn't reach her at all."

Hawkes nodded, her worry reflected in his own moves. "I tried to track her down through her cell phone and I got nothing. Not even the cell company could trace her phone and her car's still in the garage even though she isn't anywhere here."

Danny chewed on his lip as the three of them walked in to the A/V Lab. "Did you pull the security footage from the building?" he asked.

Hawkes nodded and took a seat in front of one of the computers. "Yeah, and Adam found me this," he said, tapping a few keys on the keyboard before they all turned their attention to the computer's screen, showing the footage from around the shift change late the night before.

"This is from the stairs?" Lindsay asked, fiddling with her fingers and shirt nervously as she chewed at her lip and watched the familiar figure of her friend on the screen heading down the stairs.

Hawkes nodded in confirmation. "Yeah."

"Whoa," Danny said a few moments later as Hawkes stopped the video, "Who's that guy right there?"

Hawkes shrugged. "Adam and I ran his features, or at least what we could get from this, through facial recognition and we got nothing."

Lindsay bit at her lip a little harder. "Do you think this is the same person that took Mac?"

Danny nodded, eyes still fixed on the screen. "If so, I'm thinking that this guy is also our Suspect Zero."

**ooOOoo**

They'd been left in that room for the rest of the night without the figure returning, but what Stella woke up to was something she didn't like.

Everyone would've been wrong here; things _can_ happen overnight.

"Hey," Stella said, laying a hand on his shoulder. She'd been woke up by him coughing and he looked worse than she'd ever seen him, "Mac, you alright?"

Mac shook his head, looking up to meet her concerned gaze with eyes that seemed like they'd lost a lot of their color. They were almost a clear-misty gray in color now. "No idea," he said. He had no idea what else to tell her and he didn't get the chance as he coughed again, feeling like a freight train was running through his veins instead of the blood he knew was there.

"Hey, just take it easy," Stella advised quietly, getting him to lie down beside her again as he sighed softly and closed his eyes.

She sat up beside him and laid a head against his forehead. He was warm.

Talk about a horrible cold. But this seemed much worse than anything she'd ever seen as far as an infection or sickness.

The fact that he hadn't even protested with her scared her. That was _not_ the Mac Taylor she knew.

He did, however, have the strength to grab her wrist lightly when he opened his eyes again, looking up at her. "You need to get out of here," he told her.

She nearly flinched. It seemed to tax him every breath he took and his breathing was ragged and uneven for the most part. "I can't leave you like this!" she said firmly.

"You have to!" Mac said, his voice just as firm, although he coughed again, releasing her wrist to support himself against the hard floor.

"I can't!" Stella repeated, hands on his shoulders now to help him. It was obvious that this was just as bad as Suspect Zero had made it out to be. She looked over him, worried, as he struggled to even up his breathing and looked back at her, hands still on the floor as he let her look him over.

She shook her head after a moment. "I'm not leaving you! And you've got to fight this! I'm not letting you give up on me and leave me like this. I know that's not who you are."

She thought a faint smile traced across his features as he shook his head. "You know me too well, Stell," he murmured.

Stella studied over him, managing a faint smile herself. "Yeah. I know you so well that I know I can call you my ol' Marine."

He looked back over at her, and she caught a spark of recognition in his eyes as she told him that. She nodded. "Yeah, I know you know what I'm talking about. This is just another battle, Mac. I know you can beat it, you can win it. You just have to remember who you are," she told him, pulling him in to a hug.

He carefully put one of his arms around her and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, smiling just slightly as he let her pull him closer to her. "I won't forget, Stella. I'm always your Marine. Always."


End file.
